Transcriber's Note: A Short Greek phrase has been transliterated and delimited with '{}'. 

 Short musical phrases are marked as {Music}. ============================================================

 [Illustration: Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. ]

 THE EURHYTHMICS OF JAQUES-DALCROZE

 Introduction by Professor M. E. Sadler, LL. D. (Columbia) Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds

 BOSTON SMALL MAYNARD AND COMPANY 1915

 Printed in Great Britain

 {_Pas gar ho bios tou anthropou eurythmias te kai euarmostias deitai. _}

"Rhythmische Gymnastik" is the name by which the Dalcroze method isknown in Germany, but whether or not the German words are adequate, their literal translation into English certainly gives too narrow anidea of the scope of the system to any one unacquainted with it. Rhythmical "gymnastics, " in the natural meaning of the word, is a partof the Dalcroze training, and a not unimportant part, but it is only oneapplication of a much wider principle; and accordingly, where the termoccurs in the following pages, it must be understood simply as denotinga particular mode of physical drill. But for the principle itself andthe total method embodying it, another name is needed, and the term"Eurhythmics" has been here coined for the purpose. The originality ofthe Dalcroze method, the fact that it is a discovery, gives it a rightto a name of its own: it is because it is in a sense also therediscovery of an old secret that a name has been chosen of such plainreference and derivation. Plato, in the words quoted above, has saidthat the whole of a man's life stands in need of a right rhythm: and itis natural to see some kinship between this Platonic attitude and theclaim of Dalcroze that his discovery is not a mere refinement ofdancing, nor an improved method of music-teaching, but a principle thatmust have effect upon every part of life. 

JOHN W. HARVEY. 

CONTENTS

 NOTE: John W. Harvey 5

 THE EDUCATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HELLERAU: Prof. M. E. Sadler 11

 RHYTHM AS A FACTOR IN EDUCATION:} Emile Jaques-Dalcroze 15 FROM LECTURES AND ADDRESSES: } Translated by P. & E. Ingham 26

 THE METHOD: GROWTH AND PRACTICE: Percy B. Ingham 31

 LESSONS AT HELLERAU: Ethel Ingham 48

 LIFE AT HELLERAU: Ethel Ingham 55

 THE VALUE OF EURHYTHMICS TO ART: M. T. H. Sadler. 60

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 Emile Jaques-Dalcroze _Frontispiece_

 The College: from the East _Facing page_ 15

 The College: Front 26

 The College: General View from the South-East 31

 Beating 4/4 } Movements for the Semibreve} _Between pages_ 36 _and_ 37

 Beating 5/4 in Canon without Expression} Beating 5/4 in Canon with Expression } " " 44 " 45

 The Air Bath } The College: Entrance Hall} " " 48 " 49

 The College: Classrooms} The College: Interiors } " " 52 " 53

 The Hostel: Interiors _Facing page_ 55

 The Hostel: General View _page_ 57

 Dresden from Hellerau _Facing page_ 59

 A Plastic Exercise " " 60

 A Plastic Exercise " " 64

THE EDUCATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HELLERAU

At Hellerau two things make an ineffaceable impression upon themind--the exquisite beauty of movement, of gesture and of grouping seenin the exercises; and the nearness of a great force, fundamental to thearts and expressing itself in the rhythm to which they attain. Jaques-Dalcroze has re-opened a door which has long been closed. He hasrediscovered one of the secrets of Greek education. 

A hundred years ago Wilhelm von Humboldt endeavoured to make Greekideals the paramount influence in the higher schools of Germany. He anda group of friends had long felt indignant at the utilitarianism andshallowness of the work of the schools. In Greek literature, Greekphilosophy and Greek art would be found a means of kindling new life ineducation and of giving it the power of building up strong andindependent personalities. When there came to Humboldt the unexpectedopportunity of reforming the secondary schools of Prussia, he soremodelled the course of study as to secure for Greek thought andletters a place which, if not central and determinative, would at leastbring the élite of the younger generation in some measure under theirinfluence. But his administrative orders failed to impart to the schoolsthe spirit of ancient Greece. To Humboldt and his friends Greek studieshad been an inspiration because, apart from their intellectualsignificance and literary form, those studies had been the channel of anartistic impulse and had been entered into as art. But this artisticpower was not felt by the greater number of those who undertook, inobedience to the new regulations, the duty of teaching Greek in theschools. What was left in Greek studies after this failure of artisticinsight was often no more than another form of purely intellectualdiscipline. A new subject had been added to the curriculum, but new lifehad not been brought into the schools. The very name, Gymnasium, whichdenoted their Hellenic purpose, seemed ironical. They were not Greek inspirit and they ignored the training of the body. Thus what Wilhelm vonHumboldt had chiefly aimed at accomplishing, he failed to do. It was notthe power of Greek art that he brought into the schools but, in mostcases, merely the philological study of a second dead language. Thecause of his failure was that he had not discovered the educationalmethod which could effectually secure his purpose. He had assumed that, in order to introduce the Greek spirit into education, it was sufficientto insist upon the linguistic and literary study of Greek. 

In time, attempts were made to remedy what was defective in Humboldt'splan by insisting upon physical exercises as an obligatory part ofeducation in the higher schools. But the physical exercises thusintroduced, though salutary in themselves, were divorced from theartistic influences of the Greek gymnastic. Humboldt's chief aim hadbeen forgotten. His system of organization had rooted itself, but hiseducational ideal, to which he attached far greater importance than toadministrative regulation, was ignored. 

In later years, though such Neo-Hellenism as Humboldt's had long goneout of fashion, the weakness of the higher schools on the side ofartistic training was recognized. But a corrective for this was soughtin instruction about art, not (except so far as a little teaching ofdrawing went) in the practice of an art. An attempt was made tocultivate aesthetic appreciation by lessons which imparted knowledge butdid not attempt to train the power of artistic production--an aim whichwas regarded as unrealizable, except in vocal music, and of coursethrough literary composition, in a secondary school. Thus Humboldt'soriginal purpose has been almost wholly unachieved. The schools, admirably organized on the intellectual side and, within certain limits, increasingly efficient in their physical training, are, as a rule, lacking in the influence of art, as indeed in most cases are thecorresponding schools in other countries. The spring of artistictraining has not been touched. The divorce between intellectualdiscipline and artistic influence (except indeed so far as the latter isoperative through the study of literature, through a little drawing, andthrough vocal music) is complete. This defect is felt even more keenlyin Germany than in England, because in the German schools theintellectual pressure is more severe, and the schools do less for thecultivation of those interests which lie outside the limits of regularclass-room work. 

Wilhelm von Humboldt gave little direct attention to the work of theelementary schools. His chief concern was with higher education. But inthe elementary schools also, except in so far as they gave much care tovocal music, the course of training failed to make use of the educativepower of art. A conviction that there is an error has led in Germany, asin England and America, to an increased attention to drawing and toattempts to interest children in good pictures. But there is still(except in the case of vocal music and a little drawing) an unbridgedgap between the intellectual and the artistic work of the schools. 

Jaques-Dalcroze's experience suggests the possibility of a much closercombination of these two elements, both in elementary and in secondaryeducation. His teaching requires from the pupils a sustained and carefulattention, is in short a severe (though not exhausting) intellectualexercise; while at the same time it trains the sense of form and rhythm, the capacity to analyse musical structure, and the power of expressingrhythm through harmonious movement. It is thus a synthesis ofeducational influence, artistic and intellectual. Its educational valuefor young children, its applicability to their needs, the pleasure whichthey take in the exercises, have been conclusively proved. And in thepossibility of this widely extended use of the method lies perhaps thechief, though far indeed from the only, educational significance of whatis now being done at Hellerau. 

M. E. SADLER. 

 [Illustration: The College. ]

RHYTHM AS A FACTOR IN EDUCATION

FROM THE FRENCH OF E. JAQUES-DALCROZE[1]

 [1] First published in _Le Rhythme_ (Bâle) of December, 1909. 

It is barely a hundred years since music ceased to be an aristocraticart cultivated by a few privileged individuals and became instead asubject of instruction for almost everybody without regard to talent orexceptional ability. Schools of Music, formerly frequented only by bornmusicians, gifted from birth with unusual powers of perception for soundand rhythm, to-day receive all who are fond of music, however littleNature may have endowed them with the necessary capacity for musicalexpression and realization. The number of solo players, both pianistsand violinists, is constantly increasing, instrumental technique isbeing developed to an extraordinary degree, but everywhere, too, thequestion is being asked whether the quality of instrumental players isequal to their quantity, and whether the acquirement of extraordinarytechnique is likely to help musical progress when this technique is notjoined to musical powers, if not of the first rank, at least normal. 

Of ten certificated pianists of to-day, at the most one, if indeed one, is capable of recognizing one key from another, of improvising four barswith character or so as to give pleasure to the listener, of givingexpression to a composition without the help of the more or lessnumerous annotations with which present day composers have to burdentheir work, of experiencing any feeling whatever when they listen to, orperform, the composition of another. The solo players of older days werewithout exception complete musicians, able to improvise and compose, artists driven irresistibly towards art by a noble thirst for aestheticexpression, whereas most young people who devote themselves nowadays tosolo playing have the gifts neither of hearing nor of expression, arecontent to imitate the composer's expression without the power offeeling it, and have no other sensibility than that of the fingers, noother motor faculty than an automatism painfully acquired. Solo playingof the present day has specialized in a finger technique which takes noaccount of the faculty of mental expression. It is no longer a means, ithas become an end. 

As a rule, writing is only taught to children who have reached athinking age, and we do not think of initiating them into the art ofelocution until they have got something to say, until their powers ofcomprehension, analysis and feeling begin to show themselves. All moderneducationalists are agreed that the first step in a child's educationshould be to teach him to know himself, to accustom him to life and toawaken in him sensations, feelings and emotions, before giving him thepower of describing them. Likewise, in modern methods of teaching todraw, the pupil is taught to see objects before painting them. In music, unfortunately, the same rule does not hold. Young people are taught toplay the compositions of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt, before their minds and ears can grasp these works, before they havedeveloped the faculty of being moved by them. 

There are two physical agents by means of which we appreciate music. These two agents are the ear as regards sound, and the whole nervoussystem as regards rhythm. Experience has shown me that the training ofthese two agents cannot easily be carried out simultaneously. A childfinds it difficult to appreciate at the same time a succession of notesforming a melody and the rhythm which animates them. 

Before teaching the relation which exists between sound and movement, itis wise to undertake the independent study of each of these twoelements. Tone is evidently secondary, since it has not its origin andmodel in ourselves, whereas movement is instinctive in man and thereforeprimary. Therefore I begin the study of music by careful andexperimental teaching of movement. This is based in earliest childhoodon the automatic exercise of marching, for marching is the natural modelof time measure. 

By means of various accentuations with the foot, I teach the differenttime measures. Pauses (of varying lengths) in the marching teach thechildren to distinguish durations of sound; movements to time with thearms and the head preserve order in the succession of the time measuresand analyse the bars and pauses. 

All this, no doubt, seems very simple, and so I thought when beginningmy experiments. Unfortunately, the latter have shown me that it is notso simple as it seems, but on the contrary very complicated. And thisbecause most children have no instinct for time, for time values, foraccentuation, for physical balance; because the motor faculties are notthe same in all individuals, and because a number of obstacles impedethe exact and rapid physical realization of mental conceptions. Onechild is always behind the beat when marching, another always ahead;another takes unequal steps, another on the contrary lacks balance. Allthese faults, if not corrected in the first years, will reappear laterin the musical technique of the individual. 

Unsteady time when singing or playing, confusion in playing, inabilityto follow when accompanying, accentuating too roughly or with lack ofprecision, all these faults have their origin in the child's muscularand nervous control, in lack of co-ordination between the mind whichconceives, the brain which orders, the nerve which transmits and themuscle which executes. And still more, the power of phrasing and shadingmusic with feeling depends equally upon the training of thenerve-centres, upon the co-ordination of the muscular system, upon rapidcommunication between brain and limbs--in a word, upon the health of thewhole organism; and it is by trying to discover the individual cause ofeach musical defect, and to find a means of correcting it, that I havegradually built up my method of eurhythmics. 

This method is entirely based upon experiments many times repeated, andnot one of the exercises has been adopted until it has been appliedunder different forms and under different conditions and its usefulnessdefinitely proved. Many people have a completely false idea of mysystem, and consider it is a simple variant on the methods of physicaltraining at present in fashion, whose inventors have undoubtedlyrendered great service to humanity. 

I cannot help smiling when I read in certain papers, over names whichcarry weight, articles in which my method is compared to other gymnasticsystems. The fact is, my book is simply a register of the differentexercises which I have invented, and says nothing of my ideas ingeneral, for it is written for those who have learnt to interpret mymeaning under my personal tuition at Geneva and Hellerau. 

Quite naturally, half the critics who have done me the honour ofdiscussing the book, have only glanced through it and looked at thephotographs. Not one of them has undergone the special training uponwhich I lay stress and without which I deny absolutely that any one hasthe right to pass a definite judgment on my meaning; for one does notlearn to ride by reading a book on horsemanship, and eurhythmics areabove all a matter of personal experience. 

The object of the method is, in the first instance, to create by thehelp of rhythm a rapid and regular current of communication betweenbrain and body; and what differentiates my physical exercises from thoseof present-day methods of muscular development is that each of them isconceived in the form which can most quickly establish in the brain theimage of the movement studied. 

It is a question of eliminating in every muscular movement, by the helpof will, the untimely intervention of muscles useless for the movementin question, and thus developing attention, consciousness andwill-power. Next must be created an automatic technique for all thosemuscular movements which do not need the help of the consciousness, sothat the latter may be reserved for those forms of expression which arepurely intelligent. Thanks to the co-ordination of the nerve-centres, tothe formation and development of the greatest possible number of motorhabits, my method assures the freest possible play to subconsciousexpression. The creation in the organism of a rapid and easy means ofcommunication between thought and its means of expression by movementsallows the personality free play, giving it character, strength and lifeto an extraordinary degree. 

Neurasthenia is often nothing else than intellectual confusion producedby the inability of the nervous system to obtain from the muscularsystem regular obedience to the order from the brain. Training the nervecentres, establishing order in the organism, is the only remedy forintellectual perversion produced by lack of will power and by theincomplete subjection of body to mind. Unable to obtain physicalrealization of its ideas, the brain amuses itself in forming imageswithout hope of realizing them, drops the real for the unreal, andsubstitutes vain and vague speculation for the free and healthy union ofmind and body. 

The first result of a thorough rhythmic training is that the pupil seesclearly in himself what he really is, and obtains from his powers allthe advantage possible. This result seems to me one which should attractthe attention of all educationalists and assure to education by and forrhythm an important place in general culture. 

But, as an artist, I wish to add, that the second result of thiseducation ought to be to put the completely developed faculties of theindividual at the service of art and to give the latter the most subtleand complete of interpreters--the human body. For the body can become amarvellous instrument of beauty and harmony when it vibrates in tunewith artistic imagination and collaborates with creative thought. It isnot enough that, thanks to special exercises, students of music shouldhave corrected their faults and be no longer in danger of spoiling theirmusical interpretations by their lack of physical skill and harmoniousmovements; it is necessary in addition that the music which lives withinthem--artists will understand me--should obtain free and completedevelopment, and that the rhythms which inspire their personality shouldenter into intimate communion with those which animate the works to beinterpreted. 

The education of the nervous system must be of such a nature that thesuggested rhythms of a work of art induce in the individual analogousvibrations, produce a powerful reaction in him and change naturally intorhythms of expression. In simpler language, the body must become capableof responding to artistic rhythms and of realizing them quite naturallywithout fear of exaggeration. 

This faculty of emotion, indispensable to the artist, was formerlynatural to almost all beginners in music, for hardly any butpre-destined artists devoted themselves to the art; but, if this is nolonger the case, it is possible at least to awaken dulled faculties, todevelop and co-ordinate them, and it is the duty of every musicaleducationalist to deter from instrumental technique every individual whois still without musical feeling. 

The experimental study of rhythm should form a part of everywell-organized musical education, and this study will be useful not onlyto musicians, but to music itself. It is quite certain that, if sinceBeethoven's time harmony has developed, if each generation has createdfresh groupings of sounds, it is not the same regarding rhythmic forms, which remain much as they were. 

I shall be told that the means of expression are of no importance solong as the artist is able to show his meaning, that a sincere emotioncan be clearly expressed even with old-fashioned rhythms, and that totry and create new rhythms is mere technical work, and to enforce suchupon the composers of to-morrow is simply depriving them of theircharacter. This is all true, and I myself have a horror of seeking newmeans of expression within the limits of hard and fast rules, forexpression ought to be a spontaneous manifestation. But I assert thatexperiments in rhythm, and the complete study of movements simple andcombined, ought to create a fresh mentality, that artists thus trainedwill find inevitably and spontaneously new rhythmic forms to expresstheir feelings, and that in consequence their characters will be ableto develop more completely and with greater strength. It is a fact thatvery young children taught by my method invent quite naturally physicalrhythms such as would have occurred to very few professional musicians, and that my most advanced pupils find monotonous many contemporary worksthe rhythmic poverty of which shocks neither public nor critics. 

I will terminate this short sketch of my system by pointing out theintimate relations which exist between movements in time and movementsin space, between rhythms in sound and rhythm in the body, between Musicand Plastic Expression. 

Gestures and attitudes of the body complete, animate and enliven anyrhythmic music written simply and naturally without special regard totone, and, just as in painting there exist side by side a school of thenude and a school of landscape, so in music there may be developed, sideby side, plastic music and music pure and simple. In the school oflandscape painting emotion is created entirely by combinations of movinglight and by the rhythms thus caused. In the school of the nude, whichpictures the many shades of expression of the human body, the artisttries to show the human soul as expressed by physical forms, enlivenedby the emotions of the moment, and at the same time the characteristicssuitable to the individual and his race, such as they appear throughmomentary physical modifications. 

In the same way, plastic music will picture human feelings expressed bygesture and will model its sound forms on those of rhythms deriveddirectly from expressive movements of the human body. 

To compose the music which the Greeks appear to have realized, and forwhich Goethe and Schiller hoped, musicians must have acquired experienceof physical movements; this, however, is certainly not the case to-day, for music has become beyond all others an intellectual art. Whileawaiting this transformation, present generations can apply education byand for rhythm to the interpretation of plastic stage music such asRichard Wagner has imagined. At the present day this music is notinterpreted at all, for dramatic singers, stage managers and conductorsdo not understand the relation existing between gesture and music, andthe absolute ignorance regarding plastic expression which characterizesthe lyric actors of our day is a real profanation of scenic musical art. Not only are singers allowed to walk and gesticulate on the stagewithout paying any attention to the time, but also no shade ofexpression, dynamic or motor, of the orchestra--crescendo, decrescendo, accelerando, rallentando--finds in their gestures adequate realization. By this I mean the kind of wholly instinctive transformation of soundmovements into bodily movements such as my method teaches. 

Authors, poets, musicians and painters cannot demand from theinterpreters of their works knowledge of the relations between movementsin time and in space, for this knowledge can only be developed byspecial studies. No doubt a few poets and painters have an inbornknowledge of the rhythms of space; for instance, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the stage mounter of "Electra" at the Vienna Opera, who constructed ahuge staircase, on which, however, the actors, having littleacquaintance with the most elementary notions of balance, moved withdeplorable heaviness; or again, the aesthetician Adolphe Appia, whoseremarkable work _Music and Stage Mounting_ ought to be the guide of allstage managers. But the majority of composers write their plastic musicwithout knowing whether it is capable of being practically realized, without personal experience of the laws of weight, force and bodilymovement. 

My hope is, that sincere artists desirous of perfection and seekingprogress will study seriously the grave question which I raise. For myown part, relying on many experiments, and full of confidence in ideascarefully thought out, I have devoted my life to the teaching of rhythm, being fully satisfied that, thanks to it, man will regain his naturalpowers of expression, and at the same time his full motor faculties, andthat art has everything to hope from new generations brought up in thecult of harmony, of physical and mental health, of order, beauty andtruth. 

FROM THE LECTURES OF EMILE JAQUES-DALCROZE

(LECTURE AT LEIPZIG, DECEMBER 10, 1911)

The objection is often raised that under my system the technique of aninstrument is acquired too late. But this objection has no foundation infact. A child who begins rhythmic gymnastics as I would have it in itsfifth or sixth year and a year later ear-training, can certainly havepiano lessons when eight years old, and I can state from experience thatthe finger technique of the child will then develop much more quickly, for the musical faculties in general will have been far betterdeveloped, more thoroughly trained and become more part of the child'slife owing to the preliminary training. 

 * * * * *

Lessons in rhythmic gymnastics help children in their other lessons, forthey develop the powers of observation, of analyzing, of understandingand of memory, thus making them more orderly and precise. 

 * * * * *

The effect of rhythmic training on the time-table and life of a schoolis like that of a hot water heating system which spreads an equal warmththrough all parts of a building. Teachers of other subjects will findthat such training provides them with pupils more responsive, moreelastic and of more character than they otherwise would be. Therefore, the study of rhythm, as well as education by means of rhythm, ought tobe most closely connected with school life. 

 [Illustration: The College. ]

 * * * * *

(ADDRESS TO THE DRESDEN TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION, MAY 28, 1912)

From many years' experience of music teaching I have gradually produceda method which gives a child musical experiences instead of musicalknowledge. 

I expect much from education in rhythm in elementary schools, providedit be given regularly, completely and sufficiently. The exercises shouldbe begun at the age of six, with half an hour's lesson three times aweek, but these lessons can quite well be taken from playtime. By theage of twelve two lessons a week are sufficient. This training will notonly develop the feeling for beauty and form by accustoming the eye todistinguish beautiful movements and lines from those that are ugly, butalso render the children susceptible to musical impressions. 

There are always children who are not able to sing in time, or even tobeat time, to walk in time, or to graduate the strength and rapidity oftheir movements. Such children are unrhythmic, and it will generally benoticed that these children are stiff and awkward, often alsoover-excitable. This lack of rhythm is almost like a disease. It iscaused by the lack of balance between the mental and physical powers, which results from insufficient co-ordination between the mentalpicture of a movement and its performance by the body, and these nervoustroubles are just as much the cause as the result of such lack ofharmony. In some cases the brain gives clear and definite impulses, butthe limbs, in themselves healthy, can do nothing because the nervoussystem is in confusion. In other cases the limbs have lost the power tocarry out orders sent by the brain, and the undischarged nerve-impulsesdisturb the whole nervous system. In other cases again, muscles andnerves are healthy, but insufficient training in rhythm impedes theformation of lasting rhythmic images in the brain. To repeat, the causesof this lack of rhythm all lie in the important but insufficientlyrecognized psycho-physiological sphere of the co-ordination of brain, nerve-paths and muscles. 

The objection is sometimes made that rhythmic gymnastics causenerve-strain in children. This is not the case. Several brainspecialists have told me that they have effected satisfactory cures withrhythmic gymnastic exercises. 

Rhythm is infinite, therefore the possibilities for physicalrepresentations of rhythm are infinite. 

 * * * * *

(ADDRESS TO STUDENTS, _der Rhythmus_, Vol. I, p. 41, _et seq. _)

I consider it unpardonable that in teaching the piano the wholeattention should be given to the imitative faculties, and that thepupil should have no opportunity whatever of expressing his own musicalimpressions with the technical means which are taught him. 

Whether the teacher himself be a genius is of little importance, provided he is able to help others to develop their own talents. 

One can create nothing of lasting value without self-knowledge. The onlyliving art is that which grows out of one's own experiences. It is justthe same with teaching; it is quite impossible to develop others untilone has proved one's own powers in every direction, until one has learntto conquer oneself, to make oneself better, to suppress bad tendencies, to strengthen good ones, and, in the place of the primitive being, tomake one more complete who, having consciously formed himself, knows hispowers. Only in proportion as one develops oneself is one able to helpothers to develop. 

I consider that one does not require to be a genius in order to teachothers, but that one certainly does require strong conviction, enthusiasm, persistence and joy in life. All these qualities are equallyderived from the control and knowledge of self. 

We must, from youth upwards, learn that we are masters of our fate, thatheredity is powerless if we realize that we can conquer it, that ourfuture depends upon the victory which we gain over ourselves. Howeverweak the individual may be, his help is required to prepare a way for abetter future. Life and growth are one and the same, and it is our dutyby the example of our lives to develop those who come after us. Let ustherefore assume the responsibility which Nature puts upon us, andconsider it our duty to regenerate ourselves; thus shall we help thegrowth of a more beautiful humanity. 

I like joy, for it is life. I preach joy, for it alone gives the powerof creating useful and lasting work. Amusement, an excitement whichstimulates the nerves instead of uplifting the spirit, is not necessaryin the life of the artist. Of course one must often let oneself go, andI should be the last to defend a so-called moral discipline, or apedantic rule of monastic severity. For a healthy, active person the joyof the daily struggle and of work performed with enthusiasm should besufficient to beautify life, drive away fatigue and illuminate presentand future. This condition of joy is brought about in us by the feelingof freedom and responsibility, by the clear perception of the creativepower in us, by the balance of our natural powers, by the harmoniousrhythm between intention and deed. It depends upon our creativefaculties, both natural and acquired, and becomes greater as these grow. The power of understanding ourselves certainly gives us a sense offreedom, for it opens a rapid correspondence, not only betweenimagination and power of performance, between apperception and feelings, but also between the various kinds of feelings which dwell in us. 

 [Illustration: The College. ]

THE JAQUES-DALCROZE METHOD

I. GROWTH[1]

 [1] For much of the material of this chapter the writer is indebted to Herr Karl Storck, of Berlin, to whose book _E. Jaques-Dalcroze, seine Stellung und Aufgabe in unserer Zeit_, Stuttgart, 1912, Greiner & Pfeiffer, the reader is directed. 

Emile Jaques-Dalcroze was born in Vienna on July 6, 1865, of mixedparentage, his father being a Swiss from St. Croix in the Jura (hencethe artist name Dalcroze), his mother of German extraction. At the ageof eight his parents brought him to Geneva, where in due course hebecame a student at the Conservatoire of Music. His musical educationwas continued in Paris under Léo Delibes and in Vienna under Brucknerand Fuchs. For a short period his studies were interrupted by anengagement as musical director of a small theatre in Algiers--anopportunity which he used for study of the peculiar rhythms of Arabpopular music, which he found unusually interesting and stimulating. 

Returning to Geneva, he earned, by a life of varied activities asteacher, writer and composer, a standing which in 1892 brought him theappointment of Professor of Harmony at the Geneva Conservatoire. 

The wider experience which the new sphere of work brought was to acertain extent a disappointment, for with it came clear evidence of whathad before only been suspected, namely, that the education of futureprofessional musicians was in many ways radically wrong, in that thetraining of individual faculties was made the chief object, withoutconsideration of whether or no these faculties stood in any closerelation to the inner consciousness of the student. In other words, theaim of the training was to form means of expression, withoutconsideration of what was to be expressed, to produce a highly trainedinstrument, without thought of the art whose servant it was to be, totake as primary object a thing of secondary importance, indeed only ofimportance at all when consequent on something which the usual trainingentirely neglected. The students were taught to play instruments, tosing songs, but without any thought of such work becoming a means ofself expression and so it was found that pupils, technically faradvanced, after many years of study were unable to deal with thesimplest problems in rhythm and that their sense for pitch, relative orabsolute, was most defective; that, while able to read accurately or toplay pieces memorized, they, had not the slightest power of givingmusical expression to their simplest thoughts or feelings, in fact werelike people who possess the vocabulary of a language and are able toread what others have written, yet are unable to put their own simplethoughts and impressions into words. The analogy here is the simplestuse of everyday language; from this to the art of the essayist or poetis far; so in music--one who has mastered notes, chords and rhythms cangive musical expression to simple thoughts and feelings, while to becomea composer he must traverse a road that only natural talent can rendereasy. 

Jaques-Dalcroze took the view that technique should be nothing but ameans to art, that the aim of musical education should be, not theproduction of pianists, violinists, singers, but of musically developedhuman beings, and that therefore the student should not begin byspecializing on any instrument, but by developing his musical faculties, thus producing a basis for specialized study. This training could onlybe obtained by awakening the sense, natural though often latent, for theultimate bases of music, namely, _tone_ and _rhythm_. As the sense fortone could only be developed through the ear, he now gave specialattention to vocal work, and noticed that when the students themselvesbeat time to their singing, the work became much more real, that thepupils had a feeling of being physically in unison with the music, indeed the feeling of producing something complete and beautiful. Following up this hint, "Gesture Songs" were written, which, it wasfound, were performed with surprising ease. 

Up to this point movement had only been used as an accompaniment tomusic, not as a means of expressing it; the next step was to give thebody a training so refined and so detailed as to make it sensitive toevery rhythmic impulse and able to lose itself in any music. Thisco-ordination of movement and music is the essence of theJaques-Dalcroze method, and differentiates it from all other methods ofsimilar aim. 

So far only arm movements had been employed, and those merely theconventional ones of the conductor. The next step was to devise a seriesof arm movements, providing a means of clearly marking all tempi fromtwo beats in the bar to twelve beats in the bar, including such forms as5/4 7/4 9/4 11/4, and a system of movements of the body andlower limbs to represent time values from any number of notes to thebeat up to whole notes of twelve beats to the note. From the first thework aroused keen interest among the students and their parents, and themaster was given enthusiastic help by them in all his experiments; aboveall he was loyally aided by his assistant, Fräulein Nina Gorter. TheConservatoire authorities, however, were not sympathetic, and it becamenecessary to form a volunteer-experimental class, which worked outsideofficial hours and buildings. 

The first public recognition of the method was at the Music Festival inSolothurn in 1905, where a demonstration was given which made astriking impression on those present. The value of the method for theelementary education of musicians was immediately recognized and someslight idea obtained of the part it might play in general elementaryeducation. It has been made clear that the method had its origin in theattempt to give life and reality to musical education, to give afoundational development on which specialized music study could bebased, and that it had grown naturally and gradually as the result ofobservation and experiment. Now it began to be apparent that somethingstill greater than the original aim had been achieved, that the systemevolved was one which, properly used, might be of enormous value in theeducation of children. With characteristic energy Jaques-Dalcroze, inspired by the new idea, took up the study of psychology, in which hewas helped by his friend, the psychologist Claparède, who early saw thevalue which the new ideas might have in educational practice. The changeof outlook which now took place in the master's mind can best be madeclear by a translation of his own words. [1]

 [1] Address to students, Dresden, 1911 (_Der Rhythmus_, vol. I, p. 33). 

 "It is true that I first devised my method as a musician for musicians. But the further I carried my experiments, the more I noticed that, while a method intended to develop the sense for rhythm, and indeed based on such development, is of great importance in the education of a musician, its chief value lies in the fact that it trains the powers of apperception and of expression in the individual and renders easier the externalization of natural emotions. Experience teaches me that a man is not ready for the specialized study of an art until his character is formed, and his powers of expression developed. "

In 1906 was held the first training-course for teachers; how the methodhas since grown can be realized by noting that a fortnight was thenconsidered a sufficient period of training, whilst now the teachers'course at Hellerau requires from one to three years' steady work. In theyears 1907-9 the short teachers' courses were repeated; in the latteryear the first diploma was granted, experience having shown the need ofthis, for already individuals in all parts of the world, after but a fewdays' training, in some cases after merely being spectators at lessons, were advertising themselves as teachers of the method. In 1910Jaques-Dalcroze was invited by the brothers Wolf and Harald Dohrn tocome to Dresden, where, in the garden suburb of Hellerau, they havebuilt him a College for Rhythmic Training, a true Palace of Rhythm. 

II. PRACTICE[1]

 [1] In the preparation of this chapter free use has been made of the writings of M. Jaques-Dalcroze and of Dr. Wolf Dohrn, Director of the College of Music and Rhythm, Hellerau, Dresden. 

The method naturally falls into three divisions--

 (_a_) Rhythmic gymnastics proper. (_b_) Ear training. (_c_) Improvisation (practical harmony). 

(_a_) Is essentially the Jaques-Dalcroze method--that which isfundamentally new. As it is this part of the method which is likely toprove of great value in all systems of education, not merely as apreparation for the study of music, but as a means to the utmostdevelopment of faculty in the individual, it will be dealt with indetail. 

(_b_) Is of the greatest importance as an adjunct to rhythmicgymnastics, since it is through the ear that rhythm-impressions are mostoften and most easily obtained. Jaques-Dalcroze naturally uses his ownmethods of ear-training, which are extremely successful, but he does notlay stress on them; he does, however, emphasize the need of suchtraining, whatever the method, as shall give the pupil an accurate senseof pitch, both absolute and relative, and a feeling for tonality. Themore these are possessed the greater the use which can be made ofrhythmic gymnastics. 

 [Illustration: Beating 4/4. ]

 [Illustration: Movements for the Semibreve. ]

(_c_) This is not required in the _pupil_, however valuable it may be asan additional means of self-expression; it is, however, absolutelynecessary for the successful _teacher_ of rhythmic gymnastics, who mustbe able to express, on some instrument--most conveniently thepiano--whatever rhythms, simple or compound, he may wish to use in thetraining of his pupils. This subject, therefore, naturally forms animportant part of the normal course at the Hellerau College, since thiscourse is planned to meet the needs of students preparing for theteaching diploma in Eurhythmics. Here, too, Jaques-Dalcroze has his ownsystem, with which he obtains results often remarkable, but, as in thecase of the ear-training, this is a detail not peculiar to the method asa whole. 

To repeat: the essentials are that the teacher have the power of freeexpression on some musical instrument, the pupil that of hearingcorrectly. 

 * * * * *

The system of exercises known as rhythmic gymnastics is based upon twoideas, (i) _time_ is shown by movements of the arms, (ii) _time-values_, i. E. , note-duration, by movements of the feet and body. In the earlystages of the training this principle is clearly observed; later it maybe varied in many ingenious ways, for instance in what is known asplastic counterpoint, where the actual notes played are represented bymovements of the arms, while the counterpoint in crotchets, quavers orsemiquavers, is given by the feet. 

The system of beating time with the arms provides for all tempi from2/4 to 12/4 and includes 5/4 7/4 9/4. 

In the series of movements to represent note-values the crotchet istaken as the unit; this is represented by a step; higher values, fromthe minim to the whole note of twelve beats, are represented by a stepwith one foot and a movement or movements with the other foot or withthe body, but without progression, e. G. , a minim by one step and a kneebend, a dotted minim by a step and two movements without progression, awhole note of twelve beats by a step and eleven movements. Thus foreach note in the music there is one step, one progression in space, while at the same time the note, if of greater length than a crotchet, is analysed into crotchets. 

Notes of shorter duration than the crotchet, i. E. , quavers, triplets, etc. , are expressed also by steps which become quicker in proportion totheir frequency. 

When the movements corresponding to the notes from the crotchet to thewhole note of twelve beats have, with all their details, become a habit, the pupil need only make them mentally, contenting himself with one stepforward. This step will have the exact length of the whole note, whichwill be mentally analysed into its various elements. Although theseelements are not individually performed by the body, their images andthe innervations suggested by those images take the place of themovements. 

The process is similar to that of the child learning to read; at firstit reads aloud, then to itself, still, however, moving its lips, i. E. , still making all the innervations necessary for the pronunciation of thewords. Only after much practice does the process become sufficientlyautomatic for these lip and tongue innervations to be dropped. Indeed, many adults show traces of them when they read. To what degree our powerto read is based upon such innervations is shown by the fact that oldpeople, as their inhibitory powers become weaker, often revert to makingthese lip movements. From this we may conclude that such innervations, although they do not find their natural expression, still exist andhave effect, i. E. , they are necessary. The Jaques-Dalcroze method aimsat nothing more or less than the training of rhythmic innervations. 

The whole training aims at developing the power of rapid physicalreaction to mental impressions. These latter are more commonly obtainedthrough the ear, chiefly from the music played; naturally, however, theteacher needs at times to give commands during an exercise. For thispurpose he invariably uses the word _hopp_, a word chosen for its clearincisiveness. 

Before each exercise it is clearly stated what the word is to representin that particular case, e. G. , omit one beat, omit one bar, beat timetwice as fast with the arms, etc. ; often the word will be used in seriesin an exercise, each _hopp_ meaning some additional change. As thecommand generally falls on the second half of the beat preceding the onein which the change is to be made, very rapid mental and physicalresponse is necessary, especially if the music be at all quick. Exercises of this class soon give the power of rapid muscularinnervation and inhibition, and are of extraordinary value in education, quite apart from their purely rhythmic side. 

We will now consider the exercises in some detail, taking, as a matterof convenience, the order and grouping generally adopted atdemonstrations of the method. In actual practice such strict grouping isneither possible nor necessary; the actual form which the lessons takewill depend upon the genius of teacher and pupils, the possibilities ofvariety being infinite. 

 [Sidenote: =MOVEMENTS TO INDICATE VARIOUS TEMPI=]

Simple music is played to which the pupils march. As they grasp the beatthey mark it by an accented step; when this becomes easy, thecorresponding arm movements are added, and the strong beat, at thisstage always the first, is marked by full contraction of the armmuscles. Practice is given until at _hopp_ the pupil can stop suddenly, discontinue accenting with one or both arms or with one or both feet, substitute an arm-movement for a foot movement, insert an extra accenteither with arm or foot, or do any similar thing previously agreed on. By repeated practice of such exercises complete automatic control of thelimbs is obtained and the ground prepared for more advanced work. It isat this stage that the simple movements to indicate times and notes arelearnt; they may be likened to the alphabet of the method, theelementary exercises as a whole being its accidence, the more advancedstages, including plastic expression, its syntax. 

 [Sidenote: =TRAINING IN METRE=]

This group of exercises is a natural extension of those preceding. 

The pupil learns a series of movements which together form a rhythm, first practising them singly, then in groups, the signal for the changebeing always the word _hopp_. By means of such exercises the componentmovements required in the physical expression of a rhythm can be learnt, first individually, then in series, until the complete rhythm can beexpressed and the use of _hopp_ be dropped, each change of movementbecoming itself the signal for the next. 

Again, the pupil learns to realize[1] a rhythm played on the piano orindicated by the movements of another person. This is something quiteapart from mere imitation; trained by previous exercises, the pupilfirst forms clear mental images of the movements corresponding to therhythm in question and then gives physical expression to those images. In other words, he does not reproduce until he has understood; in fact, without understanding, correct reproduction of a lengthy series of suchmovements is impossible. In the same way, an individual cannot easilyremember and repeat a succession of words which he does not understand, but can repeat without difficulty a long series of words of which heunderstands the sense. Indeed, the importance of many of these exercisesbecomes clearer when the way in which children are taught to read andwrite is remembered. 

 [1] _Realize_ is used in rhythmic gymnastics in the sense _express by movements of the body_. 

Oral and visual images of letters and words are impressed on the childby reading aloud, and in this way the young brain easily masters thedifficult work of reading and writing. The Jaques-Dalcroze methodproceeds in exactly the same manner as regards the elements of music. 

When we have once realized this point, we are bound to wonder why musicteaching has not always been based on this elementary and unfailingform. What would be said to teachers who tried to teach children to readand write without letting them spell and read aloud? But this is whathas often been done in the teaching of music, and if children generallyshow but little pleasure and interest in their first music lessons, thefault does not lie with them but with our wrong method of making theelements clear to them. 

As a matter of fact we generally do not make the latter clear to them, and fail in the most important duty of the educator and teacher, namely, that of making the child really experience what he is to learn. 

 [Sidenote: =DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL RESPONSE=]

A rhythm in music consists of a regularly recurring series of accentedsounds, unaccented sounds, and rests, expressed in rhythmic gymnasticsby movements and inhibitions of movements. Individuals who arerhythmically uncertain generally have a muscular system which isirregularly responsive to mental stimuli; the response may be too rapidor too slow; in either case impulse or inhibition falls at the wrongmoment, the change of movement is not made to time, and the physicalexpression of the rhythm is blurred. 

Although feeling for rhythm is more or less latent in us all and can bedeveloped, few have it naturally perfect. The method has many exerciseswhich are of use in this connexion. By means of these the pupil istaught how to arrest movement suddenly or slowly, to move alternatelyforwards or backwards, to spring at a given signal, to lie down or standup in the exact time of a bar of music--in each case with a minimum ofmuscular effort and without for a moment losing the feeling for eachtime-unit of the music. 

 [Sidenote: =MENTAL HEARING. CONCENTRATION=]

Physical movements repeatedly performed create corresponding images inthe brain; the stronger the feeling for the movement, i. E. , the more thepupil concentrates while making that movement, the clearer will be thecorresponding mental image, and the more fully will the sense for metreand rhythm be developed. 

We might say that these movement images store up the innervations whichbring about the actual movement. They are for the body and its movementswhat formulæ are for the mathematician. 

Developed out of many movements they become a complete symbol for therhythm expressed by the series of movements in question. Thus the pupilwho knows how to march in time to a given rhythm has only to close hiseyes and recall a clear image of the corresponding movements toexperience the rhythm as clearly as if he were expressing it bymarching. He simply continues to perform the movements mentally. If, however, his movements when actually realizing the rhythm are weak orconfused, the corresponding mental images will be vague or incorrect, whilst movements which are dynamically clear guarantee the accuracy ofthe corresponding mental images and nerve-impulses. 

In practice the exercise consists in first mastering a rhythm played, marching and beating time in the usual manner, then at _hopp_discontinuing all movement, either for a number of bars previouslyagreed upon or until the signal to resume is given by a second _hopp_. In this exercise the teacher ceases to play at the first _hopp_. 

 [Sidenote: =ANALYSIS AND DIVISION OF TIME VALUES=]

The exercises of this group are designed to teach how to subdivide unitsof time into parts of varying number. At _hopp_ the crotchet must bedivided into quavers, triplets, semiquavers, etc. , as may have beenpreviously arranged, or instead of _hopp_ the teacher may call _three_, _four_, etc. , to indicate the subdivision which is to be expressed bythe corresponding number of steps. Apart from their direct object, theexercises of this group are of value for the training which they give inpoise; they might be classed equally well with the group under_Development of Mental Response_. 

Here, too, belong exercises in the realization of syncopation in which, as the note is represented by the usual step, it comes off the beat, thelatter being indicated by a knee-bend which, in quick time, becomes amere suggestion of movement or is omitted, e. G. , {Music}

These exercises in syncopation are perhaps some of the most difficult inthe method, as they demand an extraordinary control of inhibition. Individuals of musical ability often find them difficult at first, andtheir easy performance may be taken as evidence of a developed feelingfor rhythm. As a rule children find these exercises easier than doadults. 

 [Illustration: Beating 5/4 in canon without expression. ]

 [Illustration: Beating 5/4 in canon with expression. ]

 [Sidenote: =REALIZATION OF TIME AND RHYTHM=]

The object here is to express by rhythmic movements and withouthesitation rhythms perceived by the ear. The exactness of suchexpression will be in proportion to the number of movements of which thepupil has acquired automatic control. There is not time to analyse themusic heard; the body must _realize_ before the mind has a clearimpression of the movement image, just as in reading, words areunderstood and pronounced without a clear mental image of them beingformed. 

When the realization of a rhythm heard has become relatively easy, thepupil is taught to concentrate, by listening to, and forming a mentalimage of, a fresh rhythm while still performing the old one. In thismanner he obtains facility in rendering automatic, groups of movementsrhythmically arranged, and in keeping the mind free to take a freshimpression which in its turn can be rendered automatic. 

Here again the process is analagous to that of reading, in which, whilewe are grasping the meaning of a sentence, the eye is already dealingwith the next, preparing it in turn for comprehension. 

 [Sidenote: =DEVELOPMENT OF INDEPENDENT CONTROL OF THE LIMBS=]

Characteristic exercises of this group are: beating the same time withboth arms but in canon, beating two different tempi with the arms whilethe feet march to one or other or perhaps march to yet a third time, e. G. , the arms 3/4 and 4/4, the feet 5/4. There are, also, exercises in the analysis of a given time unit into various fractionssimultaneously, e. G. , in a 6/8 bar one arm may beat three to the bar, the other arm two, while the feet march six. 

 [Sidenote: =DOUBLE OR TRIPLE DEVELOPMENT OF RHYTHMS=]

These exercises are a physical preparation for what is known in music asthe development of a theme. While the composers of fugues always use adouble or quadruple development, the method introduces an entirely freshelement--the triple development, exercises in which are difficult butextremely valuable. 

 [Sidenote: =PLASTIC COUNTERPOINT AND COMPOUND RHYTHMS=]

In plastic counterpoint the arms realize the theme, i. E. , make as manymovements as there are notes, whilst the feet mark the counterpoint incrotchets, quavers, triplets or semiquavers. 

A compound rhythm may be realized by the arms taking one rhythm, thefeet another; or the rhythms of a three part canon may be expressed bysimultaneous singing, beating with the arms and marching. 

These exercises correspond in the sphere of physical expression to thetechnical exercises of instrumental work, for they teach the pupil toexpress simultaneously impressions of the most varying nature. 

 [Sidenote: =GRADATION OF MUSCULAR EFFORT. PATHETIC ACCENT. PLASTIC EXPRESSION=]

The exercises already dealt with have all the general purpose ofdeveloping feeling for rhythm by giving training in the physicalexpression of rhythms. Those in this last group aim at facility inmaking crescendos and decrescendos of innervation, in passing from oneshade of expression to another, in co-ordinating movements, not only tothe rhythm of the music played, but also to its feeling; they allow freeplay to individuality, to temperament, and give opportunity for thatfree self-expression for which the preceding exercises have providedfacility. 

PERCY B. INGHAM. 

LESSONS AT HELLERAU

Monsieur Jaques-Dalcroze's lessons are full of vitality andentertainment, combined with the serious work in hand. No slacking ispossible. He will perhaps open a rhythmic gymnastic lesson by playing avigorous theme of one or two bars in a rhythm such as the following:--

{Music}

which, as soon as it is grasped by the pupils, they begin to_realize_, [1] that is, to mark the tempo with the arms, and to move thefeet according to the notes. A note which contains more than onebeat--for instance, the minim in the first bar--is shown by takingone step forward for the first beat and by a slight bend of the knee forthe second beat. The next two crochets are represented by one step foreach. A step is also taken for each quaver, but twice as quickly; forthe dotted crochet, a step and a slight spring before the lastquaver--all this while the arms are beating a steady four. After a shortpractice of these two bars, the master will glide into yet anotherrhythm, the pupils still realizing the first one, but at the same timelistening and mentally registering the one being played, so as to beready on the instant at the word of command, which is _hopp_, to changeto the new rhythm. We will suppose it to be as follows {Music}. This, itwill be noticed, is in 3/4 time. The pupils become accustomed todropping frequently into various times with the greatest ease. The threebars would then be realized consecutively, and this process willcontinue until perhaps there are six bars in all. These must all be soclear in the minds of the pupils, that at the word of command, one bar, or two bars, can be omitted on the instant, or be realized twice asquickly, or twice as slowly; or what is still more complicated, the armscan beat the time twice as slowly and the feet mark the notes twice asquickly. It seems incredibly difficult to do at first, but the sametraining of _thinking to time_ occurs in every lesson, in improvisationand solfège, as well as in the rhythmic gymnastic lessons, and so theinvaluable habits of concentrated thinking, of quick and definiteaction, and of control of mind over body, become established. 

 [1] See note, page 41

 [Illustration: The Air Bath. ]

 [Illustration: The College: Entrance Hall. ]

Each lesson is varied to a remarkable degree; in fact, MonsieurJaques-Dalcroze seldom repeats himself. Every day he has new ideas, consisting of new movements, or of new uses for old ones, so that thereis never a dull moment. It must be understood, however, that thealphabet and grammar of the movements remain the same, it is thecombinations of them that are limitless. The music is, of course, alwaysimprovised. 

A word should be said on the subject of feeling two different rhythms atthe same time. Every teacher knows the difficulty children have inplaying three notes against four on the piano. The Hellerau children canwith ease beat four with one arm and three with the other, or beat threewith the arms and two or four with the feet, or _vice versa_. And thisis not learnt in any mechanical way; the power for _feeling_ two rhythmssimultaneously is developed. Advanced pupils can realize three rhythmsat the same time. They will perhaps mark one with the arms, another withthe feet, and sing yet a third. 

Another part of the work is to teach the pupils to express the type ofmusic that is being played; this is technically known as "Plasticexpression. " The alphabet of this consists of twenty gestures with thearms, which can be done in many various combinations and in variouspositions, and by means of these any kind of emotion can be expressed. Perhaps the music will begin by being solemn and grand, becoming eventragic, and gradually the tones and melody will rise to cheerfulness, the rhythm will become more animated and the tone swell out again untila perfect ecstasy of joy is reached--and all the while the figures ofthe pupils are harmonising absolutely with the music, trained as theyare to listen accurately to every note, every accent, every change ofkey and, above all, every rhythm. To the watcher such an exercise iseffective and striking in the highest degree. 

Realizing syncopated passages is a fine exercise for developingindependence of movement in the arms and feet, as the feet move inbetween the beats of the arms. Let any one try to realize a simplemeasure in syncopation. For instance, take a bar of 4/4 time {Music}. The first beat of the arms and the first step will come together, thesecond beat of the arms will come half-way between the second and thirdsteps, the third beat half-way between the third and fourth steps, andthe fourth beat half-way between the fourth and fifth steps, and thisshould be done with no contraction of muscle or appearance of effort. 

Other exercises consist of beating various times in canon, that is, onearm beginning one beat later than the other; of beating different timeswith each arm, perhaps seven with one arm and three with the other; ofmarching to one rhythm and beating time to another; of simple marchingand at the word of command taking one step backward, and then forwardagain; of marching the counterpoint of a rhythm. For instance, if therhythm played be {Music} the counterpoint in crochets would be {Music}, or if it is to be in quavers it would be {Music}. The counterpoint canbe filled in with triplets, semiquavers, or with notes of any othervalue. 

Another good exercise is to take a simple rhythm and at the word ofcommand realize it twice or three times as quickly or as slowly, thearms still beating in the first tempo. A simple example will make thisclear. {Music} twice as quickly would become {Music}. 

The pupils are often asked to listen to what is played and then torealize it. It may be a series of four bars, each one in a differenttempo, and all times are employed, including 5/4, 7/4, 9/3 andothers which are somewhat exceptional. And so on _ad infinitum_. 

From these suggestions something of the endless variety of exercisesthat may be devised can probably now be imagined. 

As soon as movements become automatic they are used as units forbuilding up more elaborate movements, and no time is wasted in doingmerely mechanical exercises. In every detail of the method the brain iscalled into constant activity, and, lest any one should think that itwould be easy for one pupil to copy another in doing the exercises, itshould be stated that, if such a thing were attempted, it would end inthe pupil becoming hopelessly confused, for if the mind once loses holdof the work in process it is very difficult to pick it up again. 

The solfège lessons are chiefly for ear-training and practical harmony. In the elementary classes it is shown how scales and chords are formed, and where the tones and semitones occur. The pupils soon become ableto tell, when three consecutive notes from any scale are played, whatdegrees of the scale they are, or may be. Scales are sung alwaysbeginning on C for every key and always to a rhythm. Here, again, thepupils have to think to time, for in the second scale, which would bethat of F, if the flat scales were being sung, they have to rememberthat they are starting on the fifth note of the scale, and that theinterval between the third and fourth notes of the scale is a semitone;that the third and fourth degrees in the key of F are A and B, andtherefore the B has to be flattened in this scale, the other notesremaining the same. The whole cycle of scales is sung in this manner, each one commencing on C, or on C flat when necessary. The pupils arealso practised in listening to a scale played and then saying in whichkey it is, judging it by the fall of the semitones. 

 [Illustration: Class Rooms. ]

 [Illustration: The College: Interiors. ]

Chords are sung analytically and in chorus, with their resolutions whenneeded, and this is followed by practice in hearing and naming chords. 

Sight singing and transposition are by no means neglected, and there ispractice in singing intervals, in singing a piece once or twice throughand then from memory, or in another key, which is not so easy to do whenthe fixed _Do_ is used. And always, whatever is being done, the pupilshave to be prepared for the word _hopp_, to make any change which hasbeen previously agreed on, e. G. , to sing on the instant in a key asemitone lower, or to sing in thought only until the next _hopp_, whenthey sing aloud again. In these exercises, as in those of the rhythmicgymnastics, there is no end of the variety of combination possible. There is also opportunity for practice in conducting, and veryinteresting it is, in a children's class, to note with what assurance asmall girl of perhaps seven or eight will beat time for the others tosing one of their songs, and also to note the various renderings eachconductor will obtain of the same piece. 

The improvisation on the piano is perhaps the most difficult part of thesystem to master. It may not be realized by all people that _every onecan be taught to play original music_. There are cases in which thepupil is not naturally musical, and has had no previous knowledge ofpiano playing, but has learnt to improvise sufficiently well to give agood lesson in rhythmic gymnastics, which means no small degree ofability. This training is begun by making use of the simplest, i. E. , thecommon, chords, and when these are known in every key, including thoseon the dominant, the pupil is expected to improvise a short piece ofeight bars, the chief feature to be attended to being the rhythm, whichhas to be definite and played without hesitation. When perfectfamiliarity is obtained with the common chord of each key and with thatof its dominant, another chord is learnt, that on the sub-dominant. Withthese three chords alone quite charming little pieces can be played, andgradually in this manner the pupil has at his command passing notes, appoggiaturas, cadences, and an unlimited number of chords andsequences. Then come the rules for modulating from one key toanother, and equal facility in all keys is insisted on. MonsieurJaques-Dalcroze's pupils learn to improvise with definite thought andmeaning, nothing unrhythmical is ever allowed, nor any aimlessmeandering over the keyboard. For these lessons the pupils are dividedinto small groups of not more than six in each, and twice a week thesegroups are taken altogether by Monsieur Jaques-Dalcroze. 

All branches of the work demand perfect concentration of thought andattention, and such invaluable mental training cannot be too highlyprized, for it is fundamental to success in work of any kind, whateverit may be. 

ETHEL INGHAM. 

 [Illustration: The Hostel: Interiors. ]

LIFE AT HELLERAU

Surely never before has the world held better opportunities for studyingand loving the beautiful and true. One need be but a few days inHellerau in order to see some of the many advantages which a stay therehas to offer. For young men and women searching for a profession inlife; for those fresh from school while waiting to discover theirnatural bent; for adults who seek a change from their ordinarysurroundings and who wish to improve in culture and in health; formusicians and students in art, for teachers of dancing, and for childrenof all ages, a course of study at the College in Hellerau containsadvantages and opportunities which seem to exist in no other educationalinstitution. 

For the convenience of young girls there is a hall of residence, whichwill accommodate about forty-six students, the head of which is acultured English lady of wide experience. There are also many smallhouses on adjoining land, in which the male students and those who areolder can live. These may, and as a rule do, come to the Hostel formeals. 

The home life in the Hostel is a cheerful one. The bedrooms are bright, containing just the necessary furniture, which of course includes apiano. There is a large and charmingly furnished room opening from thehall, known as the Diele, which serves as a general sitting-room for thestudents. The dining-room is equally delightful, and can be quicklyconverted into a ball-room for impromptu dances, or adapted for otherentertainments. There is also a library; and throughout the whole housethe same good taste is displayed. Leading from the dining-room is alarge terrace, with steps down into an attractive garden. 

The day commences with the sounding of a gong at seven o'clock; thehouse is immediately alive, and some are off to the College for aSwedish gymnastic lesson before breakfast, others breakfast at half-pastseven and have their lesson later. There is always a half hour ofordinary gymnastics to begin with. Then there will be a lesson inSolfège, one in Rhythmic Gymnastics, and one in Improvisation, eachlasting for fifty minutes, with an interval of ten minutes between eachlesson. 

Dinner, which is at a quarter-past one, is followed by an hour for rest;and at three the energetic people begin practising. The afternoons areusually free, except twice a week, when there are lessons in "Plastic"and dancing from four till six, before which tea is served, or there maybe extra lessons in rhythmic gymnastics for small groups of pupils whoneed further help, and students may obtain the use of a room for privatepractice together. In the afternoons, too, there is time and opportunityfor any other extra study or lessons which are not included in theordinary course, such as violin, solo singing, drawing or painting. Mostof the students soon acquire wide interests, if they do not have themwhen they first come. Free afternoons may be spent in visiting thegalleries and shops of Dresden. Whenever there is anything especiallygood in the way of a concert, or an opera or a classical play, there isalways a party of enthusiasts going into town for it. The opera inDresden, as in other parts of Germany, fortunately begins and endsearly. Late hours are not encouraged at the Hostel--indeed, everybody isglad to retire early, for the work is absorbing and demands plenty ofenergy, especially if the full teachers' course be taken, with the hopeof a diploma at the end of two years. 

 [Illustration: The Hostel. ]

Supper is served at a quarter-past seven, and on two evenings a weekthose who wish to join the orchestral or choral societies have thepleasure of meeting together and practising under the direction ofMonsieur Jaques-Dalcroze. 

An atmosphere of enthusiasm and good-will permeates the social life. Nocommunity of the kind could have a more delightful spirit of unity thanthat which pervades the Jaques-Dalcroze School. All students are keenand anxious to live as full a life as possible, every one will willinglyand unselfishly take time and trouble to help others who know less thanthemselves. The College has a unity born of kindred interests, andevery one glows with admiration and esteem for the genius at the head, and for his wonderful method, whilst he himself simply radiatesgood-will and enthusiasm, and works harder than any one else in theplace. He makes a point of knowing each one of his pupils personally, and remarkably quick he is in summing up the various temperaments andcharacters of those with whom he comes into contact. 

The moral and mental tone of the College is pure and beautiful, indeedit could not well be otherwise, for the work in itself is aninspiration. A change is often observable in pupils after they have beenbut a few weeks in residence, a change which tells of more alertness ofmind, of more animated purpose, and even of higher ideals and aims inlife. 

 [Illustration: Dresden from Hellerau. ]

There are opportunities for the practice of many languages, for it is acosmopolitan centre. Nearly all European nationalities are represented, but as yet the number of English people is not large. This, however, will not long remain so, for the Jaques-Dalcroze method needs only to beknown in order to be as widely appreciated in Great Britain and theUnited States as it is on the Continent. 

The lessons are given in German, though occasionally French is used tomake clear anything that is not quite understood in the former tongue. English people who do not know either of these languages need not lookupon this as an obstacle, for one quickly arrives at understandingsufficiently well to gain the benefit from the lessons, and there isalways some one in the classes who will interpret when necessary. 

The College itself is a fine example of the value of simplicity andspace in architecture. Both without and within, the block of buildingsis impressive, this effect being gained by an extreme simplicity ofdecoration. The most modern methods of heating and ventilating areprovided, and there are large sun and air baths. 

Completed in the spring of this year, and with accommodation for fivehundred students, the settlement stands on high ground about four milesfrom Dresden, in an open, bracing, healthy spot, with charming walks inall directions. The views are extensive; to the south lie theErzgebirge, to the south-east Saxon Switzerland, and, in a dip of thenearer hills, Dresden. 

ETHEL INGHAM. 

THE VALUE OF EURHYTHMICS TO ART

One of the most marked tendencies of modern aesthetic theory is to breakdown the barriers that convention has erected between the various arts. The truth is coming to be realized that the essential factor of poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture and music is really of the samequality, and that one art does not differ from another in anything butthe method of its expression and the conditions connected with thatmethod. 

This common basis to the arts is more easily admitted than defined, butone important element in it--perhaps the only element that can be givena name--is rhythm. Rhythm of bodily movement, the dance, is the earliestform of artistic expression known. It is accompanied in nearly everycase with rude music, the object being to emphasize the beat andrhythmic movement with sound. The quickness with which children respondto simple repetition of beat, translating the rhythm of the music intomovement, is merely recurrence of historical development. 

Words with the music soon follow, and from these beginnings--probablywar-songs or religious chants--come song-poems and ultimately poetry aswe know it to-day. The still more modern development of prose-writing, in the stylistic sense, is merely a step further. 

The development on the other side follows a somewhat similar line. Therhythm of the dancing figure is reproduced in rude sculpture andbas-relief, and then in painting. 

 [Illustration: A Plastic Exercise. ]

So we have, as it were, a scale of the arts, with music at its centreand prose-writing and painting at its two extremes. From end to end ofthe scale runs the unifying desire for rhythm. [1]

 [1] For valuable help in these ideas I am indebted to Mr. J. W. Harvey. I should like to quote verbatim one or two remarks of his on the subject, taken from a recent letter: "Human motion gives the convergence of time (inner sense) and space (outer sense), the spirit and the body. Time, which we are in our inner selves, is more dissociable from us than space, which only our bodies have; the one (time) can be interpreted emotionally and directly by a time-sense; the other (space) symbolically, by a space-sense, which is sight. "

To speak of the rhythm of painting may seem fanciful, but I think thatis only lack of familiarity. The expression is used here with nointention of metaphor. Great pictures have a very marked and realrhythm, of colour, of line, of feeling. The best prose-writing hasequally a distinct rhythm. 

There was never an age in the history of art when rhythm played a moreimportant part than it does to-day. The teaching of M. Dalcroze atHellerau is a brilliant expression of the modern desire for rhythm inits most fundamental form--that of bodily movement. Its nature andorigin have been described elsewhere; it is for me to try and suggestthe possibilities of its influence on every other art, and on the wholeof life. 

Let it be clearly understood from the first that the rhythmic trainingat Hellerau has an importance far deeper and more extended than iscontained in its immediate artistic beauty, its excellence as a purelymusical training, or its value to physical development. This is not adenial of its importance in these three respects. The beauty of theclasses is amazing; the actor, as well as the designer of stage-effects, will come to thank M. Dalcroze for the greatest contribution to theirart that any age can show. He has recreated the human body as adecorative unit. He has shown how men, women and children can groupthemselves and can be grouped in designs as lovely as any painteddesign, with the added charm of movement. He has taught individualstheir own power of gracious motion and attitude. Musically andphysically the results are equally wonderful. But the training is morethan a mere musical education; it is also emphatically more thangymnastics. 

Perhaps in the stress laid on individuality may be seen most easily thepossibilities of the system. Personal effort is looked for in everypupil. Just as the learner of music must have the "opportunity ofexpressing his own musical impressions with the technical means whichare taught him, "[1] so the pupil at Hellerau must come to improvise fromthe rhythmic sense innate in him, rhythms of his own. [2]

 [1] Cf. Supra, p. 28. 

 [2] A good example of the fertility and variety of the individual effort obtained at Hellerau was seen at the Aufführung given on December 11, 1911. Two pupils undertook to realize a Prelude of Chopin, their choice falling by chance on the same Prelude. But hardly a movement of the two interpretations was the same. The first girl lay on the ground the whole time, her head on her arm, expressing in gentle movements of head, hands and feet, her idea of the music. At one point near the end, with the rising passion of the music, she raised herself on to her knees; then sank down again to her full length. 

 The second performer stood upright until the very end. At the most intense moment her arms were stretched above her head; at the close of the music she was bowed to the ground, in an attitude expressive of the utmost grief. In such widely different ways did the same piece of music speak to the individualities of these two girls. 

To take a joy in the beauty of the body, to train his mind to movegraciously and harmoniously both in itself and in relation to thosearound him, finally, to make his whole life rhythmic--such an ideal isnot only possible but almost inevitable to the pupil at Hellerau. Thekeenness which possesses the whole College, the delight of every one intheir work, their comradeship, their lack of self-consciousness, theirclean sense of the beauty of natural form, promises a new and moreharmonious race, almost a realization of Rousseau's ideal, and with itan era of truly rhythmic artistic production. 

That the soil is ready for the new seed may be shown by a moment'sconsideration of what I consider to be a parallel development inpainting. There is in Munich a group of artists who call themselves DerBlaue Reiter. They are led by a Russian, Wassily Kandinsky, and aGerman, Franz Marc, and it is of Kandinsky's art that I propose tospeak. Kandinsky is that rare combination, an artist who can expresshimself in both words and paint. His book--_Über das Geistige in derKunst_[1]--is an interesting and subtle piece of aesthetic philosophy. His painting is a realization of the attempt to paint music. He hasisolated the emotion caused by line and colour from the externalassociation of idea. All form in the ordinary representative sense iseliminated. But form there is in the deeper sense, the shapes andrhythms of the _innerer Notwendigkeit_, and with it, haunting, harmonious colour. To revert to a former metaphor, painting has beenbrought into the centre of the scale. As Kandinsky says in his book:"Shades of colour, like shades of sound, are of a much subtler nature, cause much subtler vibrations of the spirit than can ever be given bywords. " It is to achieve this finer utterance, to establish a surer andmore expressive connexion between spirit and spirit, that Kandinsky isstriving. His pictures are visions, beautiful abstractions of colour andline which he has lived himself, deep down in his inmost soul. He isintensely individual, as are all true mystics; at the same time thespirit of his work is universal. 

 [1] _Über das Geistige in der Kunst. _ Piper Verlag, München, 3 Marks. See also vol. I. Of _der Blaue Reiter_. Piper Verlag, 10 Marks. 

In this, then, as in so much else, Kandinsky and Dalcroze are advancingside by side. They are leading the way to the truest art, and ultimatelyto the truest life of all, which is a synthesis of the collective artsand emotions of all nations, which is, at the same time, based onindividuality, because it represents the inner being of each one of itsdevotees. 

MICHAEL T. H. SADLER. 

_Printed by_ BUTLER & TANNER, _Frome and London_. 

 [Illustration: A Plastic Exercise. ]